Galaxy and soccer in the U.S. won Sunday night

Brian Ching (25) and the Dynamo have no reason to hang their heads. (Brett Coomer/Chronicle)

Although they didn’t play as well as they had hoped in the first half and ultimately lost 1-0 Sunday night in the MLS Cup final, the Dynamo have plenty of reasons to be proud about their season.

First of all, the Dynamo gave a gutsy performance against the heavily favored and star-studded L.A. Galaxy before a pro-Galaxy crowd.

Speaking of the crowd, the 30,281 crowd was the largest to ever watch a soccer game at the Home Depot Center. MLS could have sold 20,000 more tickets if they could have fit the folks here.

The 2011 MLS Cup might go down as the most important final in the history of soccer in America. The Galaxy’s three stars – David Beckham, Landon Donovan and Robbie Keane – lived up to the hype. Before a national audience on ESPN, the Dynamo and Galaxy showed that MLS is a thriving league with great soccer.

“Until you play here, you don’t realize how much of a challenge it is,” Beckham said.

It would have been nice if the Dynamo had at least one designated player, especially since their AEG half-brothers have three. But, heck, it would have been nice if the Dynamo had just had a healthy Brad Davis or if Geoff Cameron had not played most of the game injured.

Even without the title, the Dynamo should definitely be proud of their 2011 season. Left for dead in the summer, they finished the season in the biggest MLS Cup in league history. They’ve been in three MLS Cup finals in six years in Houston, and things should only get better once they’re in their new stadium next season.

7 Responses

I thought the Dynamo played well. There were some sloppy moments, but they managed to recover and almost scored a couple of times. And, with that one exception, the defense and Talley Hall were tight. It took all three Galaxy Superstars combining to get the lone goal.

But, the announcers!! Biased much? Just before Donovan scored, I heard the announcer say, “The Galaxy have won the MLS cup twice … The Dynamo have won only two MLS cups …” Huh?

Wow, totally agree with you. There are some serious mistakes by AEG as regarding funding the salaries of the Dynamo. Hope that will be fixed now that they bought a MLS cup for themselves. The Dynamo are scrappy, hardworking and classy. They make us proud!! Can you tell us when/where they arrive so we can cheer them home!?!?

You must be nuts. The only, ONLY winners were those who bet the Galaxy couldn’t blow out the Dynamo. (I expected extratime and penalties until Cameron hurt his knee.) The classless media and fanatics from LaLaLand actually believe that they have a “greatest” team conglomeration. Here’s a little reality… They beat the youngest playoff team, possessing not a single DP, at home, without its best player, following an injury to its best defensive player, in the rain, by the horrendous score of 1-0!! Greatest?? I think not. Actually, the Dynamo did more with less and did it with class. I have not heard a single ‘good job Dynamo’ or other comment from any of the Galaxy’s “players” or their talking head media types…”we are the greatest…” blah, blah, blah. I haven’t seen a team whine or cry more about calls/non-calls than the G’s and that was after they beat RSL 3-1, including a very weak PK.

The only good news is that arrogance breeds discontent and while the Dynamo are dominating the Eastern conference for the next ___ years(obviously depending on how long they will let us embarrass Philly and NY), the Galaxy will be blown apart by their egos, financial stress, and departures. Ultimately, US soccer was severely weakened by this display of arrogance and gluttony that is called the Galaxy.

Domestic leagues are supposed to be training ground for the national teams’ talent in pursuit of the only real goal — the World Cup. What the Galaxy have done is become the standard bearers for showcasing old, foreign players who cannot play in their big leagues anymore. By winning, they have shown that US talent (with notable exceptions) is still not up to par. I’m not sure how that’s a win for MLS?

I have trolled the web and it’s as if the Galaxy played an intrasquad game and the Dynamo weren’t even on the pitch. Such was the foregone conclusion that the G’s would win, not a single pundit picked the Dynamo to stay within a goal. As a ‘Houston’ sportswriter, your comments regarding this final sadden me and I can only hope that you found a job in LA while you were there, so you can continue to extol the Galaxy’s obnoxious “virtues.”